There’s a huge range in the costs of hip- and knee-replacement surgeries, two of the most common procedures in the U.S.

Those differences exist between geographic markets as well as within markets.

For example, knee-replacement operations can cost as little as $11,317 in Montgomery, Ala., and as much as $69,654 in New York City, according to a study by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

The study, which analyzed companies’ claims data, found that the Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan market has one of the highest variances for hip-replacement surgeries in the country, ranging from a low of $17,260 to a high of $46,447. In Orange County, by comparison, cost ranges from $19,607 to $28,657.

“As more consumers shop for health care, insurance companies must use their data to empower consumers and employers with information that demonstrates cost and quality of doctors and hospitals and helps them find the highest value options for care,” the study says.

Move around during lunch breaks

Feeling lethargic at work? Take a walk.

Australian researchers tracked a group of university employees who took 30-minute walks during lunchtime for 10 weeks and found they were more energized and relaxed upon returning to their desks. The employees were also less nervous and more enthusiastic about their jobs.

The research was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.

Psychopathic criminals don’t learn from punishment

Psychopathic, violent criminals don’t learn from rewards and punishment, according to researchers from the University of Montreal.

That’s because their brains have abnormalities in the regions involved in empathy and that process emotions such as guilt, embarrassment and moral reasoning, according to the research published in Lancet Psychiatry. They also have abnormalities in the areas that process rewards and punishment.

The researchers studied MRI scans of the brains of 32 people from Britain’s probation service convicted of murder, rape, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. They all had antisocial personality disorders; 12 had psychopathy. Their scans were compared with those of 18 healthy nonconvicts.

Too much fat can have bad health implications. But in the right amounts, it plays an important role in protecting against infections, UC Irvine researcher Maksim Plikus said.

Plikus’ lab studied skin-fat tissue, the kind that lies just beneath the skin surface (not the deep tissue type that creates “beer bellies”) and the role it plays in fighting methicillin-resistant S. aureus, a superbug commonly known as MRSA.

Along with colleagues at UC San Diego, Plikus discovered that the skin-fat cells respond by dividing and forming a thick barrier around the bug that keeps it from spreading. They also secrete a peptide that kills the bug, he said.

Insecticide may increase risk of ADHD

Young children exposed to an insecticide commonly used on lawns and gardens might be at greater risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a Rutgers study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Children born to women who were similarly exposed while pregnant also may be at higher risk, according to the study.

Mice exposed in utero and through lactation to the insecticide deltamehtrin showed several symptoms of ADHD, including dysfunctional dopamine signaling in the brain, hyperactivity, attention deficits and impulsive behavior, according to the study.

Young children and pregnant women might be more susceptible because their bodies do not metabolize the chemicals as quickly, lead author Jason Richardson said.

“Although we can’t change genetic susceptibility to ADHD, there may be modifiable environmental factors, including exposures to pesticides, that we should be examining in more detail,” Richardson said.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.